The Dreamland Foundation has pulled three more investors into its sphere, within a week of announcing the selection of architect Graham Gund to redesign the historic building.

John Johnson, Kathy Penske and Wendy Schmidt have come on board as partners in the Dreamland, joining the original dealmakers, Jim Pallotta, Barry Sternlicht and Philippe Laffont. All six partners are summer residents, wth 40 to five years length of residency on the island.

Johnson grew up summers on Nantucket and has been active in independent film in New York for years. He has been on the board of the Nantucket Film Festival since its inception, and his family has spent a lifetime supporting the arts.

Penske, another Film Festival board member, has been trying for several years, in concert with others, to create a center for the performing arts on the island, and is active year-round on the island with groups ranging from Habitat for Humanity to the Nantucket Conservation Foundation.

Photo by Jim Powers

A reel used to rewind films is still bolted to a table in the Dreamland's projection booth.

Schmidt, whose family foundation recently bought the Island Spirits building for conversion to a transportation hub, is a newcomer to Nantucket, but enthusiastic in giving back to the island nonetheless.

“The Dreamland Theatre building has been many things in the service of islanders over the years. Those of us investing in its ?future are committed to seeing it once again meet the needs of the times and reflect the community's unique heritage and commitment to the arts. We have an opportunity here to demonstrate the vital connection between what has been built before and what we can do today in that footprint, using our best knowledge about energy and the environment,” said Schmidt.

The group met in New York earlier this month with architect Graham Gund, a summer resident, who has designed over 30 spaces for theaters and the performing arts in his distinguished career, and his associate, Laura Cabo.

Though nothing has been decided upon yet, conversations revolved around the use of the main space for a movie theater and the second floor space that would have more versatility for showing independent films and conversion into a venue for performances that did not need significant staging, such as one-man shows, said one person close to the group.

Gund, the principal in the Cambridge-based Gund Partnership, was chosen by the group out of a handful of well-qualified applicants for his experience with theater design and his sensitivity to the island, said one of the partners.

Photo by Jim Powers

The barren third floor of the Dreamland has been off-limits for years.

He has designed more than 30 theaters across the United States ranging from small, experimental campus-based spaces at the Westminster School in Connecticut and the Groton School in Massachusetts, to large-scale civic performing-arts complexes such as the Skokie Center for the Performing Arts outside Chicago and the acclaimed Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.

“The potential for arts projects to reflect and support the soul of every community is one of the primary reasons we were interested in the Dreamland Theatre,” said Gund. “We were thrilled to be partners in the long-awaited transformation of this important icon for the whole island.”

Gund grew up in Cleveland and was educated at Kenyan College in Gambier, Ohio. He earned his master’s of architecture and master’s of city planning at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. He lives in Cambridge with his wife, Ann, and their son, Grady, who enters college next fall to study theater.